New rules put location of vets clinic in limbo

Five years after Elk River was identified as the likely home for a new veterans clinic, and a year after Rep. Michele Bachmann praised the city in a letter to a top Veterans Affairs official, Sherburne County leaders wonder why they weren't notified about formally applying for the clinic and why new clinic boundaries eliminate a prime Elk River location.

Tuesday is the deadline to submit site applications, and Elk River, in Sherburne County, and the city of Ramsey, in Anoka County, appear to be the leading contenders for the clinic in the northwest suburbs, which would offer an alternative for veterans who travel to VA centers in Minneapolis and St. Cloud.

But the western boundary of the area outlined by the VA might eliminate, by a block or two, a standing medical building as a possible site for the VA Community Based Outreach Clinic, said Luci Botzek, the county's deputy commissioner. An area near the Sherburne County Government Center, where there are currently no construction plans, now appears to be Elk River's best hope, she said.

"The boundaries seem to preclude Elk River and focus on Ramsey," she said.

The VA office in Minneapolis doesn't see it that way. In an e-mail to the Star Tribune, the office said that the delineated area "neither helps nor hinders any city in it." The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs will ultimately decide where the clinic is built.

Lee Wiech, the VA Contracting Officer, has declined to be interviewed about the clinic. Launette Figliuzzi, Sherburne County Veterans Affairs officer, said she did not know how to reach Wiech, other than by fax or letter.

Read it in the classifieds

The VA says that's also where Anoka County and Ramsey officials first discovered the RFP. No local government officials "received personal contact" before the notice was placed in local newspapers and on the Internet, the VA said.

The battle for the clinic is highly competitive. One indication came some weeks back when Ramsey Mayor Bob Ramsey, and not any Elk River officials, was asked by Bachmann to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at an informational meeting in Elk River concerning the clinic. Ramsey said Bachmann picked him simply because he is a Gulf War veteran, but he understands the frustrations in Sherburne County.

"I know Elk River has been working on this for years," Ramsey said. "I might feel slighted, too, if I'd been working on a project for years and felt like things were shifting.

"I think the Veterans Administration has changed some of the ways they do business."

Available space

Anoka County has 26,500 veterans; Sherburne County has 6,000. Elk River has a station on the Northstar commuter rail line between Minneapolis and Big Lake that will begin operating in November. The Ramsey Town Center project has space for the 19,900 square feet and 100 parking spaces required by the VA, but Ramsey does not have a Northstar station (although it hopes to land one).

Transit locations key factor

Transit locations appear to be a key factor, thanks to a new state law that allows disabled veterans to use public transportation throughout Minnesota at no charge.

In 2004, a report by Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services identified Elk River as a "suitable, optimal site for the new clinic." In August 2008, Bachmann wrote to Dr. Robert Petzel, network director of Veterans Affairs, and called the Sherburne County Government Center "a prime location."

Last week, as the application deadline neared, Bachmann communications director Dave Dziok said the congresswoman's only goal is "to meet the needs of the veterans."

With twice the services of other suburban and rural clinics, this one is expected to serve veterans from Anoka, Sherburne Wright, Isanti, Mille Lacs and western Hennepin counties.